Just as the veteran scouts are about to launch their counter-offensive against the oncoming horde of titans, the episode flashes back 2 hours. I'm pretty sure that this is still part of the initial flashback, so that was kind of weird.
It's a good scene, as the group tries to rest and talk about what has happened thus far. I just don't see why it had to go out of order. You could have put this in sequence and it would have worked just as well. While the scene does give context to Gelgar's earlier lament that the titan's interrupted his drinking, we could have had said context from the beginning.
In any event, Conny gets to elaborate on his perceived connection between the titan at his house and his mother. It's a pretty tense scene as his fears begin to mount. Ymir responds by laughing and calling him an idiot.
Considering this is still a fairly new character, this wasn't the best scene for those who want to try to connect to her. Reiner actually commends her for lightening the mood, but I thought she came off like an insensitive jackass. Had we not seen more than one human transform into a titan, her jokes might have been funny, but it falls flat. Then again, considering what we see later, Reiner might have actually been on to something.
When the titans do come, the group splits into two. The armed vets go out and take the fight to the titans while the rookies hole up inside and try to stay safe.
You'd think that the episode's decision to focus on the latter would be a detriment, but it ends up working out rather well. We see that the second group is far from safe and it makes for a more engaging watch. They have to scramble and improvise in order to hold their own against foes that would otherwise not be much trouble.
This is made clear not just by the fact that these are smaller titans, but by the fact that they're pretty stupid, even by titan standards. They're eating each other now? That was a very brief scene, but it stood out just because it was so out of the ordinary. I'm guessing the show will elaborate later, or maybe the writers just thought it would be funny, I don't know.
I did find it odd that, of all the tactics and nearby resources the rookie scouts use, nobody ever thought to use the flaming torches. You could argue that it wouldn't kill the thing, but when it is sticking its face through a door or window and you have fire, I'd think the natural reaction would be to shove the fire in its face. It never happens, though.
This episode does give us one of the show's best pre-cut to midcard sequences, as a Titan sneaks up on Conny. He realizes it at the last second and we hear Christa call out his name just as the monster lunges at him. It was really well done.
We do see the more experienced fighters engaging in battle outside. While they do well, it's clear that it is only delaying the inevitable. The titans keep coming and their weapons are losing their effectiveness as gas dwindles and blades dull.
The episode tries to throw in a big wham moment as two of the fighters are killed. It would have been more effective if we had known them before hand. It just fell flat for me.
Gelgar gets a more notable death. True, he was only recently introduced, but we got to know him rather well and he made an impression when he did show up. Not only does he go out having taken a bunch of titans before he fell, but his final death wail is both sad and comical as he demands to know who drank the last of his booze.
It looks like Ymir is about to attempt to go out in a blaze of glory too. Well, it's not so much a blaze of glory as an idiotic charge at a horde of giant monsters with a small knife. Considering that she is new and didn't make a positive impression, it's to the show's credit that the "farewell" scene is as effective as it is. Much like before, her exchange with Christa seems like something we should have seen after establishing more about them (though judging by the preview, the next episode will do that,) but it still works well and accomplishes the goal it sets out to do.
Thankfully, Ymir had something else in mind. Rather than stab the titans, she cuts herself and begins to shoot lightning. I really wasn't sure where they were going with this, so I have to say it had me intrigued. As it turns out, she's a titan. A part of me is disappointed, as adding some other creature would have mixed things up, but it still makes for a great cliffhanger ending.
I think remaining focused on one group definitely worked in this episode's favor. The situation gave us the stakes and the tension to keep us engaged, but we also got to flesh out this particular group of characters to a greater extent.
All in all, it was a solid, generally self contained story. While the show is rather serialized, if you were to randomly pop in and start watching this episode, I think you'd have an easy enough time following along. That sort of thing is hard to do, but it's nice to see from time to time.
It's hard to believe we're coming up on the season's halfway point already. We'll have to wait and see what the season's remaining eight episodes have in store.
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